Gadgetory

yep that's me I bet you're wondering how I ended up in this situation well let's just say the world is a tough place for a tablet trying to be a laptop I'd explain why but I think the better person to tell that story is the guy that just threw me away huh well at least I landed on something soft right next to today's sponsor antlion audio and lion audios new mod mic Wireless features a low latency high quality sample rate LED status indicators up to 12 hours of battery life and more check it out at the link below believe it or not this is only the third Chrome OS powered pixel device that Google has released like I know right so first we had the Chromebook pixel way back in 2013 it looked very similar to a mac book and it was positioned as a high-end option for Google's Chrome OS which until then was a fixture on 150 dollar laptops and not much else it was supposed to lead the way forward clearing a path for Chromebooks to become a real alternative to Windows PCs and Mac's but while Chrome OS did continue to develop that vision never really came to fruition and we wouldn't see Chrome OS on another pixel device until a whopping four years later with 27 teens pixel book now our verdict on that device was about the same as the original Chromebook pixel pretty good hardware bad software and too expensive not to be deterred by its past failures though Google has now added the pixel slate to the lineup seemingly thinking that maybe Chrome OS with its ability to natively run Android apps would work better as a tablet that could also be used as a laptop than as a laptop that can run tablet apps and well actually they are partially correct as a tablet the pixel slate is surprisingly pretty great the 3000 by 2,000 resolution LCD display is bright and decently color accurate it's thin it's light and the dual front-facing speakers are simply put incredible like there's way more lows and mids than you'd expect to hear from a mobile device seriously these speakers are sick and it's got some other features that are notably absent from the iPad pro that really hurt Apple's case for the iPad pro as a laptop replacement one the pixel slate has Mel support kind of a big deal Apple to USB type-c ports that is to say it has two USB type-c ports not the USB type-c ports PowerPoint number two well I mean it is that two anyway anyway both of them can be used for charging which opens up the accessory possibilities a fair bit three it has support for external storage external storage like come on let's get round of applause here yeah yeah and for you can set the screen at more than two angles nice but comparing devices based on their specs and features won't get us the whole story here so we need to dive a little bit deeper starting with pricing some of the loadouts of the pixel slate look pretty decent until you look closely err and realize that you were paying a thousand US dollars for a device with a mere 128 gigs of storage that's kind of rough with that said at least the i/o is decent and the 48 watt hour battery had no problem lasting all day with pretty heavy use making the real question here would I want to use this thing all day if the answer we're going to be yes I would start by attaching the $200 pixel slate keyboard and then drowning my regret in it's sort of rubbery felt material like I don't know how to put this other than that this thing is just plain not good enough for the price the palm rest for the keyboard is plastic and it attaches to the back of the slate with magnets but the magnets slip when you're trying to maneuver the thing making it feel just like kind of cheap in the hand as you're as you're carrying it around like it moves around and even though once you've got it set up the angle can be adjusted quite a bit with the magnets locking it in place across this whole range of motion the keyboard it's just downer it's mushy with no real tactile feel the round kind of weird feeling key caps wiggle without actually activating and the hinge well it's less of a hinge so much as it's like kind of a flap of material making it a hassle to use the pixel slate when it's in your lap now the trackpad is better it feels nice and smooth and the multi-touch gestures work well but unfortunately it almost single-handedly defeats what was left of the pixel slates lap usability as slightly flexing the keyboard will click the trackpad discovering which was probably the single most WTF moment during the creation of this review for those of you who are one cake-baking this whole situation even more confusing is the fact that the Google store lists the bridge g-type wireless keyboard which is more of a traditional plastic laptop keyboard on the Google store for 40 dollars less than the slate keyboard and reviews of the bridge keyboard almost unanimously recommend it over the slate keyboard but anyway anyway anyway it's a tablet right so let's change gears here and talk about touch input like what about the available $100 pixel the pen yeah it's it's mostly cool it's powered by a single quadruple a battery and using it right after reviewing the iPad pro with the Apple pencil did not do this any favors it has a slightly larger diameter so it felt kinda you know novelty sized in the hand and Google says that the pen has virtually no leg but I don't know I must just have like super amazing eyes because I can pretty clearly see the stroke trailing behind the pen tip here and you guys probably can too like it is not like the Apple pencils I mean some of this probably feels like nitpicking but to the kinds of people who use styluses the stylized iolite styling styluses it's actually really important that it feel natural now remember I said that the Apple pencil experience was the most compelling reason to consider the iPad pro as a laptop replacement so the thing is is that given that this is a similarly priced solution why settle then for anything but the best stylus experience another issue is that there is no way to attach the pen to the tablet like you can put it in this little groove I hate calling that a stylus resting point it's kind of like saying that this car has 10 cupholders in it in my opinion they should have just used that space to allow the keyboard to snap up at an angle on the screen like the surface keyboard so that's the hardware all wrapped up how about the software how about the software ah yes Chrome OS it has certainly made progress over the years we're at the point now where with the combined power of Chrome extensions and Android apps you can actually do a ton of desktop type stuff including file management connecting external displays and of course using the full desktop version of the Chrome browser in fairness to Google it is definitely more of a desktop operating system than iOS is the question though is is it just as much of a full desktop OS as Windows or Mac OS and the answer is no no no what kind of stupid question is that of course not Android apps sometimes adjust welds being used in a desktop environment but at other times they act exactly like they do on your phone which can be pretty disappointing like it just doesn't seem right that I had an easier time using Microsoft Word on an iPad than I did on Chrome OS hey who said that use whatever word processor I want now to be fair Google doesn't seem to be making the same replace your computer argument that Apple is with the iPad pro opting for more of a work and play message but my question in response to that is who exactly is working and playing with this the technology is cool and I understand that the engineers that are behind products like this are trying new and cool things and that's important like they might be thinking well we have Android tablets or iOS tablets for that matter and we also have laptops wouldn't it be cool to combine these things to blur the lines and the answer is yes it is cool when it works well but when it doesn't well the customers just gonna find themselves mad that they're a beta tester for a concept device that they paid just as much for as they would have paid for something that is frankly more polished maybe the problem here is that I'm just jaded I mean when you review as many tech products as I do it becomes easy to see the flaws and after using device after device after device often times at the end of the day I just want something that just works well and does what I expect it to in an emergency if I've got a throw together a couple video clips having some options for video editing program I mean the things available with up to a core i7 like I should be able to do real work on it if it comes to that and it falls flat and maybe that attitude sometimes prevents me from recognizing the fact that the things I hold in my hand on your screen are the results of weeks months and even years of work by talented engineers and designers like they're out there trying to create something that could be the future of computing I just feel like right now for my money I'm better off with the present of computing rather than a promise of what's to come the iPad pro that has its own niche but like how about this for a general-purpose two-in-one a reasonable price sturdy build quality a headphone jack maybe a desktop OS a really good pen up maybe if we had something like oh right the surface pro we have that and yeah the surface pro isn't perfect either but what it is is a heck of a lot better than this so maybe in another four years Google thanks to blue apron for sponsoring today's video check out the link in the video description because the first 50 people to sign up will get $50 off their first two weeks of blue apron with blue apron you get both delicious chef designed recipes and the farm-fresh ingredients you need to make them easily at home delivered right to your door in a refrigerated box to keep them fresh even if you're not at home when the package arrives blue apron even pre measures the proportions for you which means no more fumbling around with measuring cups or wasting extra ingredients all of blue aprons meals can be made in 40 minutes or less with many requiring only 20 minutes and if you think about how long you already spend in the car driving out for food you might as well spend it making the food they add new dishes every week so you'll never be bored with their selection you can choose from eight recipes each week and either a two-person or a family plan and you can skip meals or cancel at any time they deliver to most of the us so share who you'd cook for down in the comments today and check blue apron up the link in the video description so that's what happened I guess this is my home now oh wait maybe he's coming back for me he's got hope that the issues can be fixed with updates no he's grabbing his water bottle so thanks for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit that like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in the video description also down there is our merch store which has cool shirts like the one I'm wearing and our community forum which you should totally join like it slips off like that's so easily we're gonna wing this just flappy doodle here is not good enough